1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data gathering system for gathering data by means of portable data gathering terminal equipment and, more particularly, to a system for gathering data by means of a portable bar code reader from remotely located equipment in which the data is stored.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Collecting data by means of a bar code reader has been a widely used method. An example of such a method will be explained in connection with FIG. 3 which illustrates a data gathering method that makes use of portable data gathering device 1 having a pen-type bar code reader 2. For instance, bar code labels representing the identification numbers of goods are displayed in the vicinity of the goods in a supermarket. Before the manager of the store places an order for stocking, he scans the bar code label by means of bar code reader 2 and enters any other necessary data by means of keypad 3. The input data is displayed on display 4 and, at the same time, stored in a memory. The data for various products are output to a central computer for the stocking of the goods. Portable data gathering devices having bar code readers are commercially available at a comparatively low price.
A type of data gathering system is also used for gathering administrative data form a plurality of automatic vending machines. Vending machines are placed at many remote locations, and the supply of goods and collection of coins for these machines are accomplished periodically at a suitable interval. When supplying the goods and collecting coins, the person in charge has to gather administrative data such as the number of articles sold, total sales, quantities of goods supplied, and so forth. The data gathering system allows automatic gathering of a good deal of administrative data simply and quickly, thereby saving labor. The data gathering device conventionally used for such a purpose is different from the bar-code type; namely, the data is gathered through electric or optical coupling with the machine's control section which includes a memory to store the data. This system, however, suffers from a disadvantage in that the data formats and interface conditions for data transmission differ according to the manufacturer of the vending machine, i.e., they are not standardized. The companies which supply goods to automatic vending machines must deal with machines of different manufacturers and, therefore, are obliged to carry several different data gathering devices satisfying different interface conditions and data formats, which is quite uneconomical and impractical.
Thus, the gathering of data from automatic venders is preferably conducted by a single commercially available portable data gathering terminal, from the view point of utility and price. This, however, is difficult to realize because of diversification of the coupling interfaces.